Aug. 5, 2003 -- The toxic plume at the World Trade Center disaster may have caused growth problems in babies born to exposed mothers.

A report, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, describes a pattern documented by doctors at Mount Sinai Medical
Center in Manhattan.

The Sept. 11, 2001, destruction of the World Trade Center released a toxic atmospheric plume that contained soot, benzene, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAH), heavy metals, pulverized glass and cement, and alkaline particulates, writes lead researcher Gertrud S. Berkowitz, PhD, with the
department of community and preventive medicine at Mt. Sinai.

The main pollutants were likely PAH or the particulates, says Berkowitz. Whether there will be any long-term effects from the World Trade Center
disaster is unclear and will require follow-up, suggest the authors

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